Artificial eyes date back to ancient times, when pharaohs would have their eyes surgically removed and replaced with gold eyes so people would think they were gods. More recently, going back to the 1600's, eye prosthetics were made of glass. With the invention of modern plastics came the new acrylic eye, which has several advantages over traditional methods.
While many people believe that prosthetic eyes are only for individuals missing an eye, in fact this is not the case. Out of the millions of eye injuries that occur every year, many people keep their damaged natural eye intact. Though it may lose vision or appear unsightly, eyes can (and should) remain healthy organs within an individual's anatomy. The reason for this is multifold. Ocular health can be better maintained when an eye remains in its socket. Also, when it comes time to fit a person with a prosthetic eye, much more natural movement and look can be achieved when fitting the piece over an existing, albeit deformed, natural eye. It is very important to understand this, as patients can sometimes be led by ophthalmologists or ocular surgeons to remove an eye that could otherwise be saved. This is because removing an eye is often the cheapest, easiest treatment. It may not, however, be best for the longterm quality of life of the patient.
Occasionally patients are diagnosed as non-visioned, but have some light perception, or patients have avoided being fitted with prosthetic eyes because of the implications of losing their light perception. It may therefore be very important to utilize any available vision when possible, rather than cover the eye with an opaque, artificial iris and pupil that would eliminate any light perception. This is particularly important in children who are still developing their neural pathways, so that they may still receive the light stimuli through the pupil and into the brain so that those neural pathways do not shut down. Additionally, a small or underdeveloped eye in a child may benefit from the stimulation of the prosthesis that keeps the face growing.
Getting the iris color right, as well as its shape and internal structures, is very complex. Most ocularists still have irises and neighboring sclera painted by hand because digital photography in preparing an iris is a complex matter. Mastering digital coloration is said by many to be impossible.
People have been creating eyes by hand going back to ancient Egyptian times—from metals, to glass, and most recently oil paints on acrylic or silicone eyes. The artists have gotten extremely sophisticated with different methods of reproducing a patient's color. Often, the artist paints in front of a patient or a photograph of the patient.
There are instances where someone may be happy with the fit of their prosthetic eye, but they do not love the prosthetic eye colors—perhaps the iris looks grainy, or it is a low resolution where brush strokes are visible. In these cases, the textural difference draws attention to the prosthesis, making it look different from the natural eye. Despite the painstaking work required, the colors will not always match.
A truly detailed, hand-painted artificial eye takes several hours of work. While a skilled artist can match with a high degree of accuracy, if there is ever any problem with the piece or a mere “slip of the wrist,” which ruins the color during the multi-step manufacturing process, the ocularist may have to start over, incurring lost time and costs of painting an entirely new iris.
For the foregoing reasons, there is still a need for a system and method that can take the infinite colors of the eye, and turn them into a digitally reproducible system that is safe, consistent, efficient, long lasting, and cost-effective.